High silicon content in oil

[SnowDrifter]

Not sure it's from coolant as potassium is low

3 causes for high silicon:

1. Unfiltered air getting into the engine. Vac leak, dirty filter, ****** filter
2. Any recent work done that would put RTV in contact with the oil
3. Silicon is an additive in many oils

 

[SnowDrifter]

Most OEM crank and rod bearings contain a layer of aluminum and silicone. Let's hope the silicone they found was from other sources.

Chicken or the egg. Silicon as a function of unfiltered air will cause high bearing wear too

 

[SnowDrifter]

Also: Quick peeve. It's silicon, not silicone. He isn't running a ***** in his crankcase

 

[Matahoe]

This is what Blackstone sent me. I found a sweet condensate under my oil cap and my coolant level was slowly going down. I quote...

"MATT: You suspected coolant to be an issue, and that's definitely the case. We found high amounts of potassium, silicon, and sodium which show coolant contamination.

Silicon could also be abrasive dirt, so
check the air intake for leaks or cracks just to be safe. The coolant is causing excess wear. Iron is from steel parts, probably rotating shafts since we've got lead from the bearings. The bearing area is traditionally
what coolant affects first. It's hard to say where the leak is. Have you done a pressure test yet? Keep changing oil more frequently until fixed."

 

[iamdub]

Also: Quick peeve. It's silicon, not silicone. He isn't running a ***** in his crankcase

LOL

I'm usually pretty sharp with catching my laptop's auto-completes (auto-INcorrects). But, you're correct and I understand the peeve!

 

[clandr1]

Blackstone told me that high levels of silicon is from an internal coolant leak mixing with the oil. Perhaps at some point someone put silicate coolant in the radiator and it's mixed in with whatever you have in there now. Either that or you go Baha racing and suckin in that sand??

I know I didn't share that part of the chart, but my water and antifreeze content are 0.00%, so I can safely rule that out.

 

[clandr1]

Quick update: I installed a new AC Delco air filter today. I noticed that one of the four screws that holds the air filter box closed had stripped out of the plastic housing, so I replaced it with a larger screw. That may have been the culprit that caused an unfiltered air leak. I'll report back when I change my oil and have it analyzed again.

 

[clandr1]

This may be a premature bump, but I changed my oil today after 8,192 miles. I pulled a sample and shipped it off to Blackstone today so I should have an update in the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping the new air filter and replacing a screw on the air filter housing in order to make it more secure will have fixed my high silicon content issue...

 

[clandr1]

I received my oil analysis today. My two concerns were lead and silicon.

Lead:

After replacing a faulty oil pan pickup tube o-ring in December 2017, my lead has dropped considerably from 22, to 14, to 13. It appears this is just normal for my motor given the history going back to June 2015 around 133,000 miles. So, it appears things are doing well on this front, even if my vehicle averages are about twice the universal average. I'd love to hear anyone chime in who has had oil analysis done on their rig to see if they are seeing the same, or something different.

Silicon:

As for silicon, it dropped from 22 to 16, so I'm going to call the new air filter and additional/larger screw in the housing a win. It is actually the lowest it's been in the last 3.5 years/60,000 miles, so that is encouraging (again, despite being higher than the universal averages column).

Other than that I'd say the old girl is doing well for approaching 200k!

 

[SnowDrifter]

Nice good deal!

If silicon is still a concern, switch oils and/or look at some VOAs. Some use it as an anti foam agent in small quantities